Hi, I’m Graham, I wrote and directed the movie for which this website is a website. I think you’re supposed to have a blog so you can tell people about exciting new developments, but I haven’t got any exciting new developments to tell you about right at present and I have to put something here so this is that.

When I was a kid, I attached my daydreams to specific things. I guess it was easier to imagine, for example, putting a setlist down on stage than the totality of, like, playing in a band. So, when I got to play in a band for real, putting my first setlist down on stage was a really big deal. It made it feel real.

Another thing I daydreamed about a lot was making movies. And the specific thing I attached that daydream to was the slate. When I first started planning CLEAN, the slate was one of the first things I bought. Before the script was finished, before the shots were planned, before all manner of more important tasks. It sat in my room, blank, for a long time. And then on July 23rd, I got to get it out. I got to write the name of the movie on it.

I got to write my name on it.

It was a big deal.

Of course, once you’ve started shooting you don’t get to be precious about anything, especially not your lousy slate. And it didn’t take long for the nice white plastic you see before you to become smudged with cheap dry erase, and crusted with fake blood. Most of the later takes involve several attempts at slating the scene, thanks to how sticky the thing had become. These days, that slate looks more like a murder weapon than a filmmaking tool. But it will always have a special place in my heart.